


Game of Denial

by tickles_tea



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Ambiguous Feelings, M/M, Pining, Raijin Days, They are both very bad at feelings, Tickling, Ticklish Izaya Orihara, shinzaya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23471035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tickles_tea/pseuds/tickles_tea
Summary: As much as Shinra mused about how Izaya played the game, he never stopped to think about why he enabled him so. Perhaps it was because Izaya needed to be knocked down a peg or two sometimes. Or maybe it was because Izaya looked awfully cute trying to fumble for the clever words that usually came so easily to him. The reason didn’t matter, Shinra told himself. None of this mattered.
Relationships: Kishitani Shinra/Orihara Izaya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	Game of Denial

_“I don’t like it.”_

Shinra smiled wryly.

Shinra Kishitani was currently on the roof of the school on his lunch break. He was one of the few students who chose to eat up here, which wasn’t all that surprising really. After all, why would a guy with no friends need to eat in a livelier place? While others may want to crowd in the classroom and exchange gossip and snacks alike, Shinra preferred the quiet open air of the rooftop. It wasn’t because he was overwhelmed at all though. There was just no way he could admire and truly appreciate the lunch Celty had slaved over with all of that ruckus.

And, surprisingly, he wasn’t alone in his self imposed seclusion. Izaya joined him. Whenever he wasn’t spending the time doing nefarious things in empty classrooms, of course.

Izaya brought with him the words of a dozen all wrapped up in one enigmatic individual. And while Shinra’s reason for eating on the roof was to escape the noise, he found that he quite enjoyed Izaya’s company. He liked to spot the irony of his words as they fell from those clever lips. Izaya talked a lot about loving humans. Loving to watch them and play with them and talk to them-loving to love them. And yet, as much as he waxed on and on about his adoration, he never explained why he too isolated himself from the very crowd he claimed to love.

Shinra didn’t bring it up though, allowing Izaya to play his game of denial—out of kindness or pity, he couldn’t say.

It hadn’t taken Shinra long to discover that Izaya was exceptionally good at that game. It was one Izaya played often, and one he played now.

“You know, for being such a scummy guy, you’re a surprisingly bad liar!” Shinra chirped happily, kicking his legs idly from where he was seated beside Izaya on one of the benches.

Izaya whipped his head around to glare at Shinra, looking deeply affronted. It wasn’t often that someone called _Izaya Orihara_ a bad liar. He scoffed bitterly and crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his gaze away from his friend once more. “I’m not. You’re just an idiot.”

His insult only received a laugh in response. “Maybe. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re lying. Or well, trying to, anyway.” Shinra picked up the lunch he’d been neglecting for the past minute or so-for which he silently apologized to Celty-and refocused his attention on finishing up his rice. He didn’t need to look at Izaya to know that he was carefully choosing his next words. The thought made Shinra smile. No matter how much thought Izaya put into his words, he wouldn’t win. Not with Shinra.

“And why on earth would I lie about this, Shinra?” Was the drawled response Izaya decided on. Shinra found himself repressing a smirk.

“Because you’re embarrassed that you like to be tickled.”

He took another bite of his food while Izaya choked beside him. It wasn’t until he was done chewing that Shinra turned to look at him, feeling unsurprised but very happy with what he saw. Izaya’s cheeks were lit up red like the cherry tomatoes he liked to steal from Kadota’s lunch, and his lips were twisted in an embarrassed cringe. It was easy to see how much his teasing affected Izaya, so Shinra did the right thing and laughed at him.

“I-I don’t,” Izaya defended himself, trying to regain his footing in this very unpleasant conversation. “Why would anyone like being poked and prodded at like a children’s toy?”

Shinra gently placed his lunch box aside and scooted closer to Izaya so that they were practically touching shoulders. “How would I know?” He answered easily, leaning in close enough to make Izaya’s breath hitch. “Why don’t I do it and we find out? It can be an experiment~!” Too shocked to move, Izaya could only tense when he felt Shinra’s hands rest on his sides.

With Izaya frozen and silent, Shinra could almost hear the frantic whirling of his friend’s brain trying to make sense of what was going on. “What do you say, vice-president?” Shinra persisted, fingers almost painfully still. One would think that Shinra would go straight for the kill without warning and laugh cruelly as Izaya descended into a giggly mess. However, he waited. He waited, because he knew Izaya wouldn’t miss this opportunity to get what Shinra was sure he’d been craving all this time.

Izaya swallowed thickly. “Wow, Shinra. If you wanted to feel me up, you could have just asked~” he purred with a smirk that was weaker than usual.

Shinra’s glasses glinted in the light. “Just for science!” He assured cheerfully. There was a moment of tense silence before Izaya nodded, slow and hesitant.

“Right…if it’s for science, I suppose we have to. What kind of biology club would we be if we didn’t?”

As much as Shinra mused about how Izaya played the game, he never stopped to think about why he enabled him so. Perhaps it was because Izaya needed to be knocked down a peg or two sometimes. Or maybe it was because Izaya looked awfully cute trying to fumble for the clever words that usually came so easily to him. The reason didn’t matter, Shinra told himself. None of this mattered.

With that thought in mind, Shinra squeezed Izaya’s sides once before spidering his fingers up the ladder of his rib cage. The response was instant, and Izaya jumped with sharp intake of breath, just like he always did when Shinra would sneak a poke at his waist during class. Ever quick to mask his reactions, Izaya clenched his jaw and stiffened his muscles as to not squirm. If Shinra were to be honest, the unaffected expression was pretty convincing.

For all of five seconds, that is.

As soon as Shinra tweaked at his lower ribs, Izaya’s mouth spread into a wide grin and bubbly snickers filled the air. “Ahaha! D-dont!” His hands shot up to push at Shinra’s shoulders. There was hardly any strength in the push though, and that self control was what had originally sparked Shinra’s suspicion that Izaya didn’t mind this as much as he claimed to. The rest of his body language hinted at the same conclusion as well. Izaya cursed and squirmed and glared as much as he could, but he never tried to escape. He never stilled Shinra’s hands or brandished his blade. Not even when his laughter became breathy and strained.

And sometimes, if Shinra paid very close attention, he could feel Izaya _lean into it._

“Have you come up with an answer yet, Orihara-kun?” He teased, wiggling his fingers between the other’s ribs to make him squeal. Like this, Izaya looked just as jumpy as the flea Shizuo claimed he was.

Shinra’s words earned him a particularly nasty look that was quickly wiped away by forced mirth. “Nahaha! Shut up! AH! Nohohohahaha!” Izaya’s squirming doubled in intensity when quick fingers skittered up his torso to poke at his underarms. His arms came down in an attempt to block the attack before he could stop himself. He knew that he would only be trapping Shinra’s hands there, but it was impossible to lift them when Shinra was vibrating his fingers into the very ticklish dips of his underarms. “Ahaha shihihit-! Stahahap!”

Shinra snickered at how Izaya’s legs kicked and flailed, deciding to give him another chance to share his discoveries for their little experiment. “Still no idea why you like it?”

“Damnit, Shinra, I don’t-ahhh! Fahahaha!” Izaya’s annoyed snap dissolved into a fit of hysteric laughter when the vibrating switched to gentle scritching. Though, that didn’t stop him from cursing Shinra to hell and back mentally for having the audacity to look so smug.

While he was sure Izaya would strongly disagree, Shinra thought he had every right to be smug. How could he not be when, even with dozens of ticklish sparks overwhelming his nerves, Izaya still made no move to put a stop to this. “You don’t know? That’s okay!” He pulled his hands free to give Izaya a moment to breathe. Though, the mercy was short-lived. “A good scientist always does more than one test!”

Having barely managed to catch his breath, Izaya responded to Shinra’s words with wide eyes full of dread. “N-no, we already have the conclusive answer. Surely we don’t need to-“ Any words after that were lost to a loud cacaophony of frenzied cackles and screeches.

Shinra smiled somberly, at odds with the energetic way his hands squeezed at Izaya’s thighs.

It seemed they’d be playing the game longer still.

Though, in all honesty, Shinra didn’t mind Izaya’s game of denial, and he didn’t mind that Izaya was so good at it.

After all, Shinra was the best.

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re interested in more stories like this, you can find me at https://tickles-tea.tumblr.com/ ^^


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